What are you waiting for? On the blog we have been studying the life of ancient Israel’s great king, David, through the Hebrew Bible’s books of 1st and 2nd Samuel. We met David is 1st Samuel chapter 16 when God sent the prophet Samuel on a secret mission to anoint David to be the next king of all Israel. Since that time at least ten years have gone by. Maybe more. We don’t know for sure. But David is still not king of all Israel. After an astounding amount of drama in his life, David is finally king of his own tribe, Judah. Will he ever become king of all Israel? Maybe you know the feeling of waiting. What are you waiting for? What we see in the life of David is not perfection, but we do see a man who knows how to wait on God.
Last week we learned that Israel was in the middle of a civil war. On one side is the tribe of Judah, with David as their king. On the other side are eleven tribes, with Ish-Bosheth as their king. One versus eleven. That might not seem like a fair fight, but the one tribe, David’s tribe of Judah is winning! To make matters worse for the eleven tribes, their king Ish-Bosheth angered his top commander Abner. Ish-Bosheth’s was not just a little offense. Abner is so angry he says to Ish-Bosheth, “I am going to convince the eleven tribes to defect and go over to David.”
Abner was angry, and he meant what he said. He first met with the elders of the eleven tribes, proposed his plan, and they agreed. Then he brought the plan to David, and David agreed. Abner and David held a feast to celebrate. But just as it seemed that the deal was locked in, it fell apart. The commander of David’s army, Joab, killed Abner.
Why would Joab do this when they were about to sign a treaty? Abner in an earlier battle had killed Joab’s brother, so Joab was now getting revenge. Suddenly the peace process was in jeopardy. David quickly took extreme action, fasting and publicly condemning Joab. David was desperate to avoid an explosion of chaos between the two sides. 2nd Samuel chapter four begins right at that moment, when it seems that David has calmed things down.
We’re going to start our study of 2nd Samuel chapter four with verse 4. We’ll get back to verse 1 soon. But there is a reason I think it appropriate for us to start at verse 4. Some Bibles put this verse in parentheses, because it interrupts the flow of the story which begins at verse 4. But verse 4 has important info that we will need. In verse 4 we read about Israel’s former king, Saul, and his son Jonathan. They were both killed in battle (see 1st Samuel 31). Jonathan was also David’s best friend. Now we learn that Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was five years old when his dad, Jonathan, was killed. Why is the author telling us this? It seems to come out of the blue.
The author of the story likely wants us to see that there are no other heirs to the throne of the eleven tribes of Israel. It is either the current king Ish-Bosheth or his nephew Mephibosheth. But Mephibosheth is still young. Yes, time has passed, and he is not five anymore. Still, Mephibosheth is now probably only between ten to twelve years old here in 2nd Samuel chapter 4. Simply put, Mephibosheth is not ready to rule as king. Also, he is permanently disabled. In that culture, these two factors would preclude him from taking the throne. In our culture, a person with a lame leg would still be able to serve in all levels of politics. Our US president during World War 2, Franklin Roosevelt, used a wheelchair, for example. But in that culture, kings were expected to join their military in battle from time to time. Mephibosheth cannot serve, therefore, much in the same way that a person who needs corrective lenses cannot be a fighter pilot in our day.
So keep that parenthetical description in mind: Mephibosheth, the only other heir to the throne of Israel, cannot serve as king. Now back to verses 1-8. Let me summarize them. In 2nd Samuel chapter 4, verses one through eight, we read about an assassination attempt against King Ish-Bosheth, the king of the eleven tribes of Israel who are fighting David’s tribe. The assassins, Rekab and Baanah, stab Ish-Bosheth in this sleep and they kill him. Then they cut off his head and bring his head to David. They are so proud of themselves. They declare that through their actions, God has avenged David. Really? This was God at work? Should they be so confident? How will David view this situation?
We find out in the next post!
Photo by Justin Natividad on Unsplash
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